Abduction of a Princess by Sereko sereko13@yahoo.com --------- "By the gods, Sere." Sapphire stepped forward. "Did he harm you?" A great fear rose in him at the though. 'If he even...' Usagi tried her hardest to suppress the oncoming tears, but she couldn't hold them back for long. "I..he..it's just..." Her eyes quivered when she glanced up at the ex-Nega Moon general. Sapphire's chest constricted as he gazed into her fearful eyes. "Please..say no...say he didn't..." His voice began to shake. The four sisters started to move forward to join the two. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry, Sapphire...I wish I could." Usagi's eyes darted around the room for a second before she rested them upon the tall man again. "But, he did." The tears that she had been holding back were finally let loose. They flowed gently down her cheeks, one after another. "He did, Sapphire." "No! No Sere! Oh gods, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." He immediately stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Usagi. Sobs wracked her body as he rubbed her back soothingly. The sisters ran towards them and each lay a comforting hand on Usagi's back. "Usagi-chan, would you like us to go get the others?" A muffled affirmative answer came from the blonde and the sisters went up the stairs. Sapphire tightened his grip around Usagi's waist and nuzzled his head on her shoulder. Usagi just continued to weep pitifully. Silence pervaded the room. "I wish I could have stopped him. I wish I could say something that would help." The whisper left his lips before he could do anything about it. Usagi's only reply was to hold him closer and to weep harder. "Usagi-chan?!" "Usagi-chan are you really back?!?!" The calls came from the top of the stairs. The princess immediately broke contact with the ex-general and wiped her eyes harshly. The inner senshi then proceeded to come flying down the stairs. A chorus of 'Usagi's echoed through the house as the girls group-hugged with their leader. One senshi was missing, though. When the other girls let go of their death grip on Usagi, she looked towards the bottom of the stairs for the last of her inner court. Rei did not look happy. The fire-child lifted her head from its bowed position and glared at Usagi. "Odango! You irresponsible little crybaby! Why did you leave like that?!" Rei took a few steps forward, barely restraining her anger from overtaking her fear. Her hand was in the air and ready to strike before anyone could blink. But it would never make it to Usagi's cheek. A tear had stopped her. A single, silvery tear that ran its was down Usagi's right cheek. The rest of the senshi paused in puzzlement. Makoto was the first to speak up, "What is it, Rei?" She glanced at Usagi and took a sudden step back. "Usagi-chan?" The other girls turned to their leader. Minako was the first to walk up to Usagi. She put a hand softly on Usagi's shoulder. "Usagi-chan? Nani? What's wrong?" Another silvery tear fell from Usagi's left eye. "Usagi?" Minako's voice was starting to waver with concern. "Tell us what's wrong. Please, Usagi-chan." By this time, the rest of the group had started to step near the princess. Sapphire and the sisters were the only ones who were distanced, all with depressed looks upon their faces. A third tear fell, joining the others on the floor by Usagi's feet. "Usagi! Please, tell us! What's wrong?" Rei's voice became insistent. Ami stepped up and gave Usagi a warm hug, but the princess did nothing to return the action. As the ice senshi pulled away, she shook Usagi's shoulders a little. "Usagi-chan?" There was no response. Then, from the bottom of the steps a few feet away, came another voice. "Usako?" The princess' response was immediate. She burst into heavy sobs and fell to her knees on the floor. The senshi all cried out her name in alarm while the ex-Nega Moon citizens started to cry along with Usagi. Mamoru was at her side in a second. He did not embrace her, though, just sat in front of her. He reached out with his left hand and lifted her chin. Usagi did not stare up at him, instead keeping her eyes locked on the ground as she wept. Mamoru rubbed away her tears with his thumb, only to have many more take their place. He ducked his head in a manner that forced her to look him in the eye and whispered, "Usako?" Her sad eyes looked deeply into his as if asking forgiveness. 'Forgiveness for what?' She was starting to scare him until she finally shifted her position. Both of her arms rose from her sides to wrap around his shoulders and she buried her head in the crook of his neck. A small, weak whisper escaped her lips, "Gomen nasai." "Usako? What do you have to be sorry for?" He wrapped his arms around her waist and used his right hand to rub her back. "Gomen nas-sai..for not...stopping him." The sobs broke up her sentence, but he still heard her. "Stopping who? What happened, Usako?" A deep fear, one that he had been trying to ignore the entire time that she was gone, began to rise up inside his chest. Another faint whisper that only he could hear escaped her lips, "Gomen nasai." Her sobs became even heavier and Mamoru looked helplessly passed her shoulder at Sapphire. Sapphire just averted his gave to the floor. Mamoru shook off the *very* bad feeling he was getting and turned his attention back to Usagi. "Usako, baby, please tell me what happened." His hand followed a random pattern as it rubbed up, then down her back. "I can't bare to see you like this and not know what is wrong. Please, baby..." Working up her will-power, Usagi quickly blurted out the problem. "Dimando." "Nani?" Usagi sighed and nuzzled her head further into the crook of Mamoru's neck. "I was...hurt." The prince's back went slightly rigid at the statement. As Usagi continued, his back only continued to become more prostrate. "D-Dimando...hurt me." Usagi started to shiver after her confession and Mamoru wrapped his arms more warmly around her. At this point, the forgotten inner senshi began to speak up. "Dimando!?! What did he do?!" Minako's fear was clearly visible in her voice. A small gasp at her side made her turn towards Ami. The girl's face seemed to have lost all of its usual color. "Ami-chan? Nani?" Ami ignored her and glanced down at Usagi. "Usagi-chan, no...no, he didn't!" But her fears were confirmed when the other girl broke into hysterical sobs. "No, Usagi!!" Everyone was curious, now, to see what Ami had uncovered. They looked at her expectantly. She, in turn, glanced down at Usagi. "Shall I tell them?" A muffled 'hai' was her response. She brought her eyes up again to the awaiting eyes of the senshi. "He..well, he..." "Spit it out, Ami!" With tear-filled eyes of her own, Ami continued, "He..that bastard...I still can't believe that he- that he..." The entire room grew stiff when they heard Ami swear. Never had anything so vulgar left the innocent senshi's mouth. The news must be bad. "I still can't believe that he raped her." There, it was said. It was out in the open for all to take in, or for all to object to. "NANI?!?" Mamoru screamed out with the rest of the girls as he pulled back sharply from Usagi. Slightly startled from the loss of warmth, Usagi looked up at her beloved. The look in his face was one of pure horror. Usagi's shoulders began to wrack again and her body slumped in defeat. Still gazing into his eyes she whispered once more, "Gomen nasai." Mamoru squeezed his eyes shut at the hopeless image that Usagi was portraying. 'I have failed her.' His hands balled into fists and his blood began to boil with anger. 'I have failed her and now that bastard of a prince has gotten his hands on her.' He opened his eyes slowly. Then, with a cry of despair, he leaned forward and held Usagi in a tight embrace. "My dearest Usako, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry to have failed you. I'm so sorry for not being there with you. Oh, Usako, I'm so sorry. Please forgive this fool of a prince for not protecting you. Please forgive me." He held her even tighter and squeezed his eyes shut again. A river of tears seeped through the closed lids.